SoKai Week Prompt Repository
by Shire Folk
Summary: In honour of SoKai Week, a bunch of prompts every day for the lovely couple. Will be updated every day from June 2-8, 2019.
1. Quote

It was Kairi's birthday, and Sora was panicking like a loon.

He'd marked the day on his calendar weeks in advance, and every time he had looked at it he had thought to himself, _I need to get her a birthday present_. However, that constant reminder had not resulted in any action, and now, the day of, he was left without a present to give her.

It wasn't his fault, though of course it was. Sora was just too indecisive in choosing what to possibly get Kairi for her sweet sixteenth.

He agonized over it all day, so much so that he was almost completely incapable of getting dressed properly in his school uniform (requiring his mother's help in straightening him out more than once), and he had no idea after the fact how he even got through school that day. Everything his teachers said went in one ear and out the other, and the smile he gave Kairi when he saw her that morning and wished her a happy birthday was something he just painted on his face to hide his terror of her learning that he hadn't gotten her something yet.

Riku gave him odd looks too, but he couldn't let Riku know. He _absolutely_ couldn't let Riku know that he hadn't gotten his significant other a birthday gift yet. Even more than that, he couldn't let Selphie find out, or she'd tear both his arms off.

Selphie was _scary_ when she was mad.

Once the final bell rang, Sora was out the door like a supersonic bullet. He didn't even stop to confirm the time and place for Kairi's party; he'd had that info memorized over a week ago. Everyone was going to be there, from friends on the Islands to all the other Guardians of Light. As stated, he couldn't trust Riku with the secret that he was still presentless, so Sora did the only thing he could think of, and called up his other best friends on the Gummiphone.

"_Hello?"_

"Donald!" Sora screamed. "What am I supposed to do? I have no idea what I'm going to give her!"

"_Sora, calm down,"_ the court wizard instructed him, and Sora took a deep breath as Donald gave him a sympathetic look. "_You still haven't gotten her a gift?"_

"No," Sora muttered in reply. "I just… I have no idea what to give her. Do I get Kairi something she can use everyday? Do I get her jewelry or something decorative? A funny shirt? Food? What do I do, Donald? What do I do?"

His duck friend of many adventures and life-or-death battles shook his head and sighed. "_Sora, this is Kairi we're talking about. Kairi. It's not the gift, it's what's in your heart,"_ he proclaimed, and not for the first time.

"My heart…?" Sora asked. He looked down, feeling it thump in his chest and a lump rise in his throat. It was definitely telling him something, and Sora smiled and swallowed the lump down. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Donald."

"_No problem. See you later."_

Sora hung up, still smiling at the Gummiphone. "Thanks again, Donald. I know what to do."

When Sora arrived at the party he was the last guest to show up. Everyone else was already present at the beach cookout. Lea, Terra, and Hayner were all playing with a frisbee; Naminé was chatting with Kairi's dad as he grilled the skewers; Xion, Kairi, and Olette were playing in the shallows; Aqua and Donald were having a silly contest over who could make better magic fireworks, judged by Ven, Chirithy, and Goofy; and all the rest were engaged in conversation.

Riku was the first to spot Sora, and he loudly called his name, attracting everyone's attention. For just a moment, Sora stiffened, but then he continued forward, raising a hand and giving a cheery wave with the bouquet of flowers he held in one hand, and the helium-filled red balloon in the other. Kairi splashed out of the water and strode up the beach towards him, and it felt like every pair of eyes was tracking their progress.

"You're late, you lazy bum," Kairi teased. "Are these for me?"

"Well you know me, I like to sleep a lot," Sora answered cheekily. "I was having trouble getting you a gift."

"So you decided on flowers _and_ balloons?" Kairi asked with a giggle. "You shouldn't have. I love them."

"I didn't," he answered with a grin. "These are for Naminé."

Kairi blinked a few times while Naminé placed a hand to her mouth to cover her dropped jaw. "I'm sorry, but pardon?"

"Well, they're part of the official thank you I still needed to give her," Sora replied. Kairi sighed and scratched her head.

"That's sweet, I guess," she said, still confused that Sora would bring gifts for another girl to _her_ birthday. "It still would have been nice if you'd gotten me a gift, though."

Sora chuckled and put the flowers and balloon weight down. "Oh, I do still have a gift for you," he replied. Before anyone could react to that statement, or tell him that he didn't have anything else on him, Sora grasped Kairi by the shoulders and kissed her lips.

No one said a word, though they did watch with beaming smiles as the seconds passed. Sora even dipped Kairi a little, and her hands weakly grasped his shoulders. Their tongues slipped away from each other as their lips parted, and Sora was blushing as he asked her, "Do you like your present? My heart?"

"It's the best present I could ask for," Kairi answered softly. "But maybe next time, don't give me a heart attack by buying flowers for Naminé." Sora chuckled in his throat, grinned, and started a second round of kissing.


	2. Perfect Date

Eyelids opened suddenly, bringing light to the retinas of the formerly sleeping Kairi. She winced, shutting them again and turning over in her bed, throwing the sheets back over her head to try to stave off the sunlight so she could sleep for a little bit longer. It was a Saturday morning, and her muscles were aching all over, especially her arms and back. Training yesterday had been grueling, Riku and Terra putting her and Sora through their paces. She'd been confident that she had improved throughout the journey she had undergone to rescue Sora from that terrible abyss, but her two guy friends had shown her once again that the title of Master wasn't just for show, no matter how recently acquired Terra's official rank was.

Sleep did not come to rescue her, though, no matter how long she waited for it to envelop her. Every trick she had of snuggling into her sheets and pillows to get as comfy as possible was seemingly wasted as she lay awake for an hour and a quarter, trying to get back to dreamland. What caused her to concede defeat was not the time ticking by, as Kairi would have been more than content to continue being comfy in bed for another few hours, but by the smell coming from the kitchen that tickled her nose. Sighing, Kairi threw the sheets off her body and swung her legs over her bed. A wide yawn burst split her mouth open for a few seconds, and she stretched her arms. Every muscle felt sore, and there was a lingering stiffness in her left shoulder just beside her neck.

Feeling that she had better get up and get some of that food that was smelling so good before it was all eaten, Kairi emerged from her room in her light grey tank-top with a stylised pink heart on the front and black shorts, and quietly walked down the hall on bare feet to the kitchen, murmuring a tired but cheerful, "Morning," as she entered.

"Good morning sunshine!" greeted someone she was not expecting to find there.

Besides her mother, who was sitting at the table and drinking her morning tea, Sora was standing in the kitchen. He had a beaming smile on his face, looking very much alive and not like he was half-dead from Terra mopping the beach with his face yesterday.

"Good morning, Kairi," her mom said without shifting her eyes from the paper, though she did smile. "We figured you'd get out of bed when you smelled pancakes."

"That's true, but…" Kairi turned to look at Sora, a little bit of a blush spreading on her cheeks. They had been officially dating for a couple of weeks now, but she still wasn't exactly used to him seeing her in her pajamas. "What are you doing here so early, Sora?"

"Do I need an excuse to cook the bestest girlfriend in the Realm of Light pancakes for breakfast?" Sora asked with a beaming grin that melted her heart and warmed the aches in her body. She couldn't keep herself from smiling even if she wanted to, and she let Sora guide her to the table, pulling out her chair for her, and serving her a plate of fluffy golden pancakes cooked in heart shapes, topped with whipped cream, and small cut slices of mangos and strawberries.

From there followed a whirlwind day of absolutely nothing. Kairi never made it closer to going outside than looking outside her living room window as she relaxed in a comfy spot on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and Sora's arms, the two of them reading a book together as he rested his chin on her shoulder. In truth he was just as sore as she was, and they massaged each other at various times throughout the day. Though it seemed like it was Sora's mission to pamper her all day on this very sudden house date, Kairi let him know that she wouldn't stand for not being allowed to pamper him too. Once her fingers got to work on his shoulders and neck, he folded like a stack of cards and let her have her way.

It was more fun that way.

Some of their friends may have commented that spending the day indoors reading books, watching movies, and generally lazing back wasn't the most romantic way to spend a prime Saturday for going out and having fun, but Sora and Kairi knew better. They trained together, fought together, and recovered together.

As Kairi gave Sora a kiss goodnight when he finally went home after the wonderful dinner he'd cooked for both her and her family, she thanked him for the most perfect date.

"But we didn't really do anything," Sora said, bashfully rubbing the back of his head. "I'd hardly call it a date."

Kairi shook her head. "I got to spend my whole day with the bestest boyfriend in the Realm of Light," Kairi answered, and kissed his cheek again. "That's a recipe for the most perfect date we could have, no matter what we do."

Sora grinned and gave her a hug and another kiss before nuzzling his cheek against hers. "So, what do you say to having another perfect date tomorrow?"


	3. Gummiphone Shenanigans

_I realized after I wrote this that it could also have worked for Day 1, but it fits here too._

Sora really had no idea what he was doing when he started posting on the Gummiphone.

It was to be expected. The Gummiphone was the first personal phone he'd ever had, and it was a smartphone to boot! He still couldn't computer, and the Gummiphone was a phone, camera, video recorder, and pocket computer all in one! It was only natural that he was still lost with it even after Jiminy showed him how to use it.

One thing that he _did_ seem to get, Kairi noted with a smile as she checked her Gummiphone, was how to use the Kingdom Hearts app (affectionately called Heartstagram by its user base).

Kairi couldn't go out and see the other worlds. She was too busy training with Axel under Merlin's guidance in the Secret Forest. So it seemed like Sora made it his mission to do his very best to bring his adventures in the other worlds to her. Every day he made new posts, always tagging her in them with the hashtags #kairi and #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare.

Usually it was around two or three times in a day he'd make a post of him with Donald and Goofy off on another world, but sometimes when he got really excited he'd make up to twelve posts. Sometimes it was him showing off those "Lucky Emblems" he was hunting for and determined to find all of, sometimes it was just him posing in a new look Donald's magic had given him (Kairi thought he looked especially cute and fluffy as a cuddly cat monster, and roguishly handsome as a scruffy pirate), but mostly it was pictures of the sights of the new locales and the friends he was making while trying to master the Power of Waking.

A picture of himself with his friend Hercules, posing in front of a statue of the man himself in a town square surrounded by people, all three of them making the same pose. The caption read, "Three true heroes together, but one of these things is not like the other. Can you guess which one? #olympus #thebes #hercules #trueheroes #itsthestatue #causeitsmadeofstone #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

Twilight Town, Sora standing together with Hayner, Pence, and Olette in front of one of those lucky emblems, Donald looking petulant in the front. "Back in Twilight Town, and the gang's doing fine. They miss you, Kairi, and want to see you again soon. Olette was really glad to hear that you got away from the Organization safely. #twilighttown #seasalticecreamgang #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

A selfie near a pond, Rapunzel and her long golden hair splashing about in the water, laughing and smiling on her first ever day outside of her tower, captioned, "Rapunzel sure is having fun. Maybe I should get in there and frolic too? #kingdomofcorona #rapunzel #splishsplash #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

One that wasn't of him, but was of the inside of a toy store. Donald and Goofy had become action figures, and they were with a spaceman, a cowboy, a piggy bank, a green tyrannosaurus rex, some green three-eyed aliens, and a number of little green army men. They were all posing in front of an advertisement for some video game called "Verum Rex", and the main character of it looked eerily familiar. He'd captioned it, "Rex seems to think that I'm the guy from the video game, but Donald says that Yozora looks a lot more like Riku. What do you think? #toybox #toyscantalk #verumrex #yozora #toyscantalk! #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

Another photo, this time back in Twilight Town. Somebody else had taken the picture, because it was showing Sora cheerfully cooking in a kitchen with a cute little rat perched on his head, holding onto strands of Sora's hair. His face was lit up both in excitement and from the fire in the pan that had been captured at just the right moment. "Little Chef teaching me how to flambé! I'm going to be able to make the best salmon dishes for mom when I get home, and I can't wait for you to taste my cooking too. #twilighttown #legrandbistrot #littlechef #flambéedcuisine #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

The monster world, with a little girl with black pigtails snoozing on Sora's comfy belly. He seemed relaxed as he took the selfie, and wasn't even looking at the camera. His gaze was down at the little girl, looking at her softly while one hand patted her sleepy head. "Shh… Boo's sleeping. You can't say I'm the only one fond of "cat naps" anymore guys. #monstropolis #boo #sullyiskitty #soraislittlekitty #adorable #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare #idlikekidsoneday"

Kairi couldn't help but blush at the last four tags on that one, thinking of a future like that.

Arendelle was the next world he showed off, standing in front of a massive palace made of ice with an awestruck expression in his selfie as he gestured out towards it. "An ice palace! An honest ice palace! This would be really amazing if I wasn't also freezing my bones off on this mountaintop! #arendelle #snow #islander #donaldgivemeacoat #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

No people in the next one at all, just a picture from a high vantage point, seemingly from the top spire of a giant red suspension bridge. A landscape of a city by the bay, with towering skyscrapers and floating balloon turbines. The water glistened in the sunlight, and cars drove up and down the bridge far below. Kairi could feel Sora's wonder pouring through the picture itself as she read the caption. "San Fransokyo is just amazing. I could never imagine our quaint little islands turning into something like this. The hustle and bustle is like nothing I've seen before. It's not the same as our world, but there are people fighting to keep its peace just like we are. #sanfransokyo #bigherosix #keybladeherothree #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

Another picture clearly taken by Donald or Goofy. Sora in a pirate get-up, standing at the bow of the barc that he'd somehow managed to get his hands on. It was a picture of him with his back to the camera. He was standing on the railing at the head of the ship's bow the prow jutting out in front of him as the ship headed off towards the numerous tiny islands of the open sea in the jade waters of the Caribbean Sea. Only a few fluffy white clouds were in the sky. "Adventure calls my name. These seas aren't going to explore themselves. The Leviathan sure is a long way from that little raft we built together, but the purpose is the same. New horizons here we come! #caribbean #pirateslifeforme #keepaweathereyeonthehorizon #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

One last picture, taken the day before that fateful battle. It was in the secret place. Sora was sitting by the rocks he and Kairi had scratched on, their drawings of sharing paopu fruits beside his face. There was a small smile on his face, though it didn't reach his eyes. They weren't jovial, but determined. The caption was short. "I can go on, knowing you're there by my side. We'll be together. #kairi #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"

A tear dripped down her cheek and landed on her Gummiphone as she looked at that final picture. It was the last post he'd made. That dumb heroic goofball who could charm anyone with that smile of his. There would be no flash of green at sunset, him sailing out to greet her again on that magnificent pirate ship. He was lost in the darkness he'd saved her from. Until he was found, there was no way that they could be together like they wanted; like they'd promised.

"Kairi?"

She looked up. Olette was standing there, a small smile on her face. She nodded her head. "Are you ready?"

Kairi nodded her head, and passed the Gummiphone to Olette. "Make it good," she instructed, and Olette nodded and skipped off. Kairi looked behind her. Riku was there, along with all of the friends they'd fought beside that day: King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Aqua, Terra, Ventus, Axel, Roxas, Xion, and Naminé. Her eyes met Riku's and he nodded. She nodded back, and as one all of them who carried Keyblades summoned them into their hands and pointed them to the sky. Beams of light shot out of ten Keyblades, merging at a single point, and a massive gate appeared in the sky.

"Alright, that was great!" Olette came bounding back up to Kairi, showing her the snapshot she'd taken of all the Keyblade Wielders holding their Keyblades, rays of light illuminating them as they prepared to head out with Kairi in the lead. Kairi thanked her and quickly threw up the picture to her account. She didn't know if he'd get it or not. If he'd been sending her more posts of wherever he was now, she hadn't been receiving them. Still, there was a faint hope that wherever he was he'd get this one, just like he'd gotten the letter she'd put in a bottle and sent adrift in the sea.

"Now I will step forward to realize this wish. You've saved us so many times, Sora; but this time it's our turn to save you. I promise. #sora #thinkingofyouwhereveryouare"


	4. AU Day - Royalty AU

The first time he saw her was when he was four, and her face made him smile.

His father Zack, one of King Ansem "the Wise"'s powerful vassals, brought him to the king's court along with his older brother Vanitas. At the time, though, Sora was too rambunctious to stand still and listen to his father and the king talk. He'd managed to give everyone the slip and set about on his personal goal of exploring the palace that his father had brought him to. There were lots of paintings and statues that he idly wandered past, peering at the brightly painted scenes within and the shapes that artists had managed to make out of solid stone. The statues and paintings weren't his destination, though. Sora had been looking for a bit of green space where he could run around in. His father had stressed many, many times that he was not allowed to run around indoors, and had received enough punishments and bruises from running into things to learn that lesson.

When he finally did find a garden, he found that it was already occupied. A beautiful woman was sitting on a stone bench, dressed in a fancy dress of purples and golds. She was watching as a small child played nearby in the flowerbeds, picking the brightly blooming plants and gathering them in her hand. The child was a girl with bright red hair, as vibrant as a ripe apple, and she was in a gown of green and gold.

Sora didn't pay too much attention to who these people were, though, as he ran up to the girl and asked her, with a big bright smile on his face, "Hi! I'm Sora! What's your name?"

The girl seemed surprised by Sora's sudden appearance, but she slowly smiled in response to his cheery one. "I'm Kairi," she said. She stood up straight and placed her hands to her sides and pinched her dress, even as she still held onto the flowers in her right hand, and gave a cute curtsey. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sora."

Remembering his manners, Sora blushed and gave her a quick bow. That bit of stuffy formality out of the way, he placed his hands behind his head and shifted his weight between his feet, leaning back in his blue tunic and black hose. "Nice to meet you too, Kairi. What are you doing?"

She glanced back at the woman on the bench, who seemed to be watching them with interest, before looking back to Sora. "I'm picking flowers!" she replied, and then whispered. "They're a present for my daddy, but it's a secret, so don't tell him!"

"Don't worry, I won't!" Sora assured her, keeping his voice low so that the secret wouldn't escape. "Can I help?" She nodded, and the two of them worked together to pick flowers. Sora had even tried to pick a huge sunflower, because only the biggest flower would do for a big strong man like Kairi's daddy, but it was too big and heavy for him, so they stuck with the smaller flowers.

They talked and talked. Sora no longer remembered what it was they had spoken about, but they became fast friends as they gathered the flowers and watched the insects and butterflies and warily backed away from a few honeybees that buzzed about. Eventually they were found by the king and Sora's father and brother. Kairi had rushed up to the king, shouting, "Daddy!" and presenting the bushel of flowers she and Sora had gathered to him with a bright smile on her face.

It was when he was four that he'd first met a princess, and his whole life changed.

He next saw her when he was nine, again on a trip to the royal palace with his father. Vanitas wasn't with them this time. He was being groomed on proper stewardship over their father's demesne, most of which would one day be his to rule. They stayed for a week to enjoy the summer fair that King Ansem was throwing, and Sora found many excuses to spend time with Kairi while enjoying the events of the fair, and he learned more about her directly from her lips. She had two older brothers and an elder sister, so she was far enough out of the line of succession to be heir to much of anything, which meant that even though she still had her etiquette lessons, she was given more leeway in what she was permitted to do with her time. That left plenty of time and reasons for her to spend with her visiting friend at the fair, and they enjoyed the time together immensely, and laughed in satisfaction when the monkey handler—who seemed a very cruel man—was bitten on the nose by his own monkey.

Kairi visited his castle two years later on an invitation from Sora's father to spend time together, as the king and Count Leon had grown to be close friends over the years. Sora was deep in martial training at this point, learning to wield sword and spear to command men and knights on the field of battle. He was eleven, and learning his place in the world. In five more years he would be deemed a man, and would have to be prepared for the life of being the second son of a count whose lands and titles would pass on to his brother rather than him. It meant a life of duty and servitude, if not rulership. If he could spend it well being of use to his family, then he would learn all he could.

Kairi's visit threw a wrench in that plan, and he played hooky from his lessons to spend time with her. With a blushing face she read him poetry that she had been writing while they went out on a boat on the river to fish, though the boat capsized when they both got too excited after Sora hooked a walleye and got a thorough scolding for having gone out alone, even though they were both fine and had come back to the castle in high spirits, soaking wet but laughing from the shared experience. Many more adventures were had, and the princess' visit ended with the promise of exchanging letters.

Barely a week went by in which a letter wasn't being either sent or received by either party, and by the time that they were both thirteen both King Ansem and Count Zack could see the writing on the wall. Their children were completely smitten with one another. When his father asked him why he was training so hard to be a good warrior, Sora's answers had stopped being about duty, honour and being useful to him and his brother, but had morphed into a straightforward and honest answer of, "I want to keep her safe, father, so that she can keep smiling."

Unbeknownst to Sora or his father at the time, the precocious younger princess, upon seeing her elder sister Naminé come of age and be married to the son of a duke who ruled a neighbouring country to cement an alliance between them, had begun acting more like a young boy than a girl. She had taken to dressing in hose and boys' styled tunics, and was having her elder brother Ienzo spoil her by practicing swordplay and horsemanship with her. At first Ansem was not sure whether this sudden switch to boyishness was simply a phase of rebellion or not, but after speaking at length with his daughter during a sparring session that he chose to invite himself to he understood her desire.

If her marriage was to be a pawn for playing the Great Game of politics, why not make her a pawn to strengthen the ties within the realm rather than beyond it? To that end, she was earnestly trying to gain the ability to protect herself and, if need be, the smile of the young man she wanted to be her husband if she was allowed to have her way.

When Sora next saw Kairi it was at her fourteenth birthday, and the words she had written in her letters had not sufficiently prepared him for the changes wrought in her appearance. Boys clothes were fitting on her. Even so, they couldn't hide her growing femininity, and they seemed to enhance her smile when he first saw her in a way that the pink gown she wore that night for the ball didn't, but that dress also made her look more beautiful than he could have imagined. The boyhood feelings of close friendship that he had been nurturing in his heart for the past several years broke and shifted into something definitely more adult than before. Somehow encouraged by the pair's older brothers, the two managed to find themselves alone that night, sequestered into an alcove behind the statue of a winged horse, and Kairi boldly placed her lips upon his cheek. All Sora could think about on the ride home over the next several days was the feeling of her lips upon skin.

A month later he was back in the royal palace as the King's ward. He had thought that being in the same place as her would mean that he would have been able to see more of her, but Sora found most of his time being taken up being together with the king as both ward and courtier. King Ansem taught him many things that he had already been learning in his father's house: of stewardship and diplomacy; how to manage one's own house and affairs; and how to fight and command. Intrigue, scheming, and plotting was left out of his education on purpose, for he was an honest, kind, and brave young man by that point. Virtuous and just, and such spidery plots did not suit his nature.

Had he been getting schooled in such things, he may just have learned about the plot being hatched behind his back by the two men he trusted most.

Still, there were times in which he and Kairi would be together, and their courtship grew more obvious to the other courtiers, vassals, and palace staff. When one skipped lessons, they both skipped lessons. When one was sick, the other was mysteriously also stricken by some malady and had to return to quarters for rest, only to be found by the court physician in the other's chambers nursing them. They went riding together, they sparred with wooden weapons together, they competed in mock jousts together, they went into town and the lands surrounding the castle together, they enjoyed cultural events and feasts together, and they even hunted and fished together.

A month after Sora's sixteenth birthday, after having become a man in the eyes of his country, King Ansem called him into his study. Kairi was already there, seemingly confused as to why she had been called as well, and he asked the two of them a very important question. "Would you like to be married?"

Before they answered his sudden question that would bind the two of them together for their lives, something that they were already anticipating happening anyway at some point, they looked down. They were already holding each other's hands. Blushing and smiling at each other, they returned their gaze to the king and said, "Yes."

"I see…" Ansem said quietly. "Unfortunately, Sora, while you are a very fine young man, and a son of one of my most cherished and important vassals, I cannot give away my daughter to a man who is not heir to anything."

"But father!" Kairi cried while Sora felt a great lump swell in his throat. His heart started to thump faster in his chest, and his mind began spinning.

"I cannot allow it, Kairi," Ansem said.

"Then we'll elope!" she declared. "We'll run away. You cannot stop us from being together."

Sora looked at Kairi in amazement and wonder. She'd do that for him? "Wait, Kairi—"

"And I not worth that to you, Sora?" Kairi asked fiercely.

"Kairi I want you more than anything," Sora answered her quickly. "But I don't want you to burn bridges to be together with me."

"So long as I'm with you, I'm happy," Kairi said. "Even if we have to go live in a forest somewhere and build ourselves a simple cabin, I don't care. So long as I'm with you, Sora, it doesn't matter."

"Kairi…" Sora whispered.

"Well, Sora, she has shown her resolve," Ansem said. "And what about you? Do you still wish to have her hand, in spite of my refusal?"

Sora swallowed the lump in his throat down, and smiled. There was only one answer he could give.

"Even if the whole kingdom is against it, if Kairi will have me and no other, then I will have her and no other."

The King looked at each for a hard moment, and then laughed.

"Then consider this your order of banishment from my palace," he declared, and passed Sora a document. Sora took it, and blinked as he started to read it.

"This is my father's hand," he said aloud, and Kairi peered over his shoulder to read this "banishment" notice along with him. "He says that he is… he's giving me a barony to be my own demesne!"

"I cannot have a landless nobleman marry my daughter, even if he is the son of my close friend, but a baron? Now that's another story." Ansem chuckled. "No cabin in the woods for you, but a castle of your own and the town and lands around it. Pack your things, Lord Sora, and begone from my castle by midday tomorrow. You have a wedding to plan for. I don't want to see _either_ of you again until the day I come to your home to properly give my daughter to you."

Kairi threw herself at her father, giving Ansem a big hug and a wet kiss on the cheek, before grabbing Sora's hand and nearly dragging her betrothed out the door.

All Sora could do was smile. Twelve years they had known each other, and now they would be spending many more by each other's side, bound first by love and secondly by the sacrament of holy matrimony. As Kairi dragged him through preparations to depart to the new land that they would rule together, a future task he only now realized he was being groomed for as the king's ward that years ago he would never have thought possible, all he could do was smile.


	5. Daydreams

"I love you, Kairi," Sora said, holding her in his arms and kissing the side of her neck. "I love you more than anything else."

"Mmm, say it again, Sora," Kairi whispered as she clung to him, pressing her chest against his and digging her fingers into his upper back. "Say that you love me."

"I love you," he murmured softly into her ear. "I'll say it as many times as you want." His tongue licked at her earlobe, and Sora pressed a kiss just below and behind her ear at the sensitive spot where her jawbone ended. Kairi's breath came out hot as her cheeks flooded with blood at the feeling of his lips against that spot, and her knees started to grow weak. She forced her head back away from his for just a brief moment before pressing her lips against his. Her tongue slipped out past her teeth, entering his mouth in a messy deep kiss as she tried to get even closer to him, to become _one_ with him.

"Sora…" she mumbled through her kisses, just saying his name sending a pleasant thrill through her psyche. "Sora… love you… Sora…"

"Kairi…" he returned. "Kairi… Kairi…"

"Take me, pumpkin," Kairi mewled. "Make me your woman…"

"Kairi," he said as he smooched her, hard. His hands moved from her hips to her butt. "Kairi…"

"Miss Ushida!"

Her eyelids snapped open and she jolted awake as a piece of chalk smacked right into her forehead and an authoritarian voice shouted her name. The stinging pain of the impact lingered as she looked up towards the front of the classroom and saw her social studies teacher glaring at her.

"How kind of you to pay attention, Miss Ushida," he said with a patronizing lilt. "I trust that your desk was just as interesting as the lesson?"

Kairi looked down at her desk, and saw a puddle of saliva on it where her lips had been just seconds ago. Her entire face became as red as her hair as the embarrassment coursed through her and the chuckles from some members of her class drummed into her ears. Had she been French kissing her desk in her sleep?

"I'm sorry, sir," the girl who was shivering in embarrassment apologized. Her teacher turned his back to her and returned to the chalkboard where he was writing notes on different government policies that had been implemented over twenty years ago in regards to a certain event that had happened in the history of Destiny Islands. Selphie tapped Kairi on the shoulder and leaned forward.

"You were mumbling in your sleep and looked like you were making out with your desk," she whispered. "What were you dreaming about?"

Kairi couldn't prevent her eyes from quickly glancing over at the subject of those dreams, Sora sitting on the opposite side of the room. His eyes met hers and she felt her face heat up all over again. Kairi quickly shook her head and shot Selphie a hasty, "Nothing!" hoping that she would drop the subject and return to focusing on the lesson.

But Kairi couldn't focus on the lesson. Her mind was still focused on the dream that she had been having, and her eyes lazily strayed over to where Sora was sitting in his seat, that lovable goofball actually paying attention in class for once. They'd spent the weekend together, just hanging out at home and in comfy tea houses and ice cream parlours, and it had felt magical just being together with him.

Her heart yearned for him, so close and yet so distant, across the classroom from her. She wanted to tousle his spikes and kiss him senseless. Kairi ached to have him hold her in his arms and assure her that he'd never leave her side again, that they'd never have to be parted from one another like they had been after Xehanort; to have his lips press against hers, his hands scoop her up and carry her 'cross the threshold of the gummi ship and whisk her across the stars to whole new worlds full of excitement and adventure. His image morphed as she gazed at him, her imagination running wild. He looked at her, flashing his big, sunshine grin, and the distance between them seemed to vanish as their classroom changed into a cosmic landscape. Sora opened his mouth, and a song that she was humming in actuality smoothly exited his lips and graced her ears.

"_I can show you the worlds,"_ the voice in her mind's ear richly filled her. "_Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?"_

Landscapes she had only seen in pictures he'd posted on his Gummiphone flashed by her eyes above her head as she saw herself strapped in on the gummi ship, still his voice filling her head and whole being. "_I can open your eyes. Take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways, and under, on a magic spaceship ride."_

"_Whole new worlds!"_

"MISS USHIDA!"

Another piece of chalk slammed into her head and Kairi fell off her chair. She looked around quickly. She wasn't flying over the castle town of the Kingdom of Corona with Sora, watching people dance over the sun-motif mosaic in the tiled stonework below, or in Agrabah above the sand dunes and oases with the city shining in the distance, she was in her classroom, and everybody was staring at her and snickering. Her teacher was standing in front of her, holding up two aluminum buckets full of water as he loomed over her.

"Hallway. Don't come back in until I say you can." He held out the buckets for her to take, and Kairi groaned.

She really needed to stop having dates with Sora on Sundays.


	6. Paopu Fruit

_A/N: Hey everyone! In honour of this year's SoKai Week (July 5 - 11, 2020) I'll just be uploading this year's prompts here as well! We're kicking things off with Day 1 - Paopu Fruit!_

The Paopu fruit.

A star-shaped fruit native to the Destiny Islands where it is said in local legend that if they are shared, the destinies of those sharing them will be entwined together through eternity. The fruit was commonly used during wedding ceremonies by especially committed couples as an additional act to the practice of exchanging rings. Its likeness was used in the creation of charms widely used to bring good fortune or to reunite those who are parting before a journey. The paopu fruit had sweet-tasting flesh with a pleasantly sharp tartness within its abundant juices.

Hence why Kairi was spending this hot summer afternoon with two of the fruits, a bowl of ice cubes, some gold rum Sora had brought back from his latest trip to the Caribbean (the good stuff from a hidden distillery halfway along the coast between Tortuga and Port-au-Prince, no customs declarations for inter-world travel, fuck yeah!) and a blender.

This wasn't Kairi's first time making frozen daiquiris, but it _would_ be the first time she'd do so using paopu fruits, and that fact was rapidly catching up to her as she stared blankly at the ingredients in front of her. Looking at it again, this was going to be less like a daiquiri and more like an alcoholic frozen smoothie.

"How am I supposed to do this?" she mumbled with a half-despairing lilt. If she were leaving this to her boyfriend, he'd have it done in a snap. But she wasn't expecting Sora to be back from his latest sally across the stars for another hour, and she wanted to have something nice for him to drink upon his return. Most likely the first thing he'd do, after rushing home to greet his mother like a good mama's boy who knows he worries her far too much, would be to call on her here at her place.

Hands placed on the counter, eyes boring holes into the two thick, juicy fruits in front of her, Kairi didn't even notice her mom enter the kitchen until the woman was already upon her. "Well, _this_ looks interesting." Kairi massaged her neck, feeling it crick with the speed at which she'd snapped it towards her mom's smiling face. "Something special planned for Sora's arrival?"

Staving off a blush, Kairi nodded minutely. "Yeah. I wanted to share a special drink with him at the barbeque we're having tonight, since we're eighteen and can legally drink now. He's always been going on and on about the rum he's had whenever he goes to the Caribbean, so I wanted to give him a little taste of that combined with a taste of home. That and I want to try it too."

"With paopu fruit?" That knowing smile never wavered.

This time the blush came through. "W-well, we've already shared them before, back when the Keyblade War happened. This is just… reaffirming it!" Her mother gave Kairi _that_ look. That look she always gave her whenever stuff like this came up in conversation; that "ah, to be young and completely infatuated is wonderful, isn't it" look.

"Mom!"

"Would you like some help?" Kairi blinked at her mother's question. "Well, you're standing here looking like a fish in a tank. The least I can do is help. I used to make something similar for your father and I to share when we were going out."

Kairi felt a rush of gratitude towards her mother as she cut with the teasing and offered aid. "Thanks Mom."

"Anytime. Pour us a bit of that rum first; we want to know how it tastes. Now, when making a paopu smoothie you have to remember…"

Sora arrived at Kairi's house about fifty minutes later (he must have rushed a little to get home early). The other guests they were expecting for the group barbeque had yet to arrive, but two tall glasses full of that yellow slurry of ice, rum, destiny-binding fruit, and a bit of added sugar were waiting for the young lovers. Watching off to the side, hand on her husband's shoulder as he checked on the pork shoulder he had spent the day smoking, Kairi's mom couldn't help but sigh as she gazed at her adopted daughter on the back porch. Straws were in their mouths, Kairi and Sora each drinking from their own glass of the concoction, with their eyes solely on each other. They seemed to twitter and fiddle shyly before opening up to some chit chat about the drink. Both paopu fruits had been blended together, and combined they made quite a lot of daiquiri/smoothie left in the fridge to drink more of, so even though the method wasn't true to the legend, well… the legend was needlessly vague to begin with.

"Reminds me of us, don't you think?" her mother asked. "Although back then it was your mom who taught me how to make those." Her husband chuckled.

"The wisdom of the women of Destiny Islands," he replied. "Maybe one day Kairi will get to pass it on to her kid."

And years later, as Kairi came across her own daughter staring helplessly at a pair of paopu fruits and a blender, she did just that.


	7. Unseen Adventures

Sora held in a chuckle as he watched Kairi restlessly pace back and forth with what was obviously a fluttering heart. The cool night wind was blowing up here where they stood, likely reminding her of just how high up she was. Her hands were a mess, whirling around or fanning herself as she tried to calm her clearly rattled nerves. Kairi was muttering words to herself that he could just catch, and whether they were to attempt to bring her back down or psyche herself up, Sora couldn't exactly tell, but it was adorable all the same.

Even so, she'd never get anywhere like this.

* * *

_A few hours ago…_

"Kairi! Come with me! There's a place I need to take you."

"Sora!? Wh—where are we going?"

"Trust me, you'll love it! I always promised myself I would take you there, well today's the day I live up to that promise!"

* * *

In hindsight, grabbing Kairi off the street on her way back home from school and taking off like a man possessed was probably not the best way of going about this. Still, though, it was a bit funny that Kairi was stressing out over this so much.

"Come on Kairi, you're overthinking this," Sora chuckled.

"I am _not_ overthinking this, Sora!" Kairi rounded on him, cheeks puffing out like an angry chipmunk. It would have been terrifying if it wasn't so adorable. "I am thinking about this the _exact_ amount I should be! If anything, you're _underthinking_ it! If I don't do this right, _splat_. That's it. I'm kaputski!"

"Don't be like that," Sora assured her. "I'd catch you before that happens."

"I'd prefer _not_ to have a Superman—Lois Lane moment, thank you."

Sora rolled his eyes. She was just stalling at this point. "Stop being such a drama queen and do it." To demonstrate, Sora did a little hop off the ledge, inciting a panicked squeal from his (hopefully) soon-to-be girlfriend.

"Sora! Don—!"

...and he promptly floated in the air, not falling down to a horrible demise at all. Sora couldn't help but smugly grin at Kairi's stunned face. "See? Nothing to it. All it takes is faith and trust, oh! And pixie dust! Tink!" A blonde pixie in a green dress flew overhead and circled around Kairi, sprinkling the redhead with a small shower of golden dust. Tinkerbell flew right into Sora's face as soon as she finished, chiming up a storm in the fairy language. Unfortunately, Sora was able to understand her. "Don't say things like that, Tink. I really like Kairi; you've known that since we met. It's not like she's Wendy or someone who's going to take Peter Pan from you." More chimes. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks Tink. I owe you one. Feel free to collect next time I'm in town." Nodding her head, the fairy flew off towards the second star to the right.

Kairi's hesitant voice brought Sora back. "Uh, what was that about?"

"Hm?" Sora blushed a little. "Oh, uh, Tinkerbell gets jealous easily of other girls. Anyway! Now that she's sprinkled you in pixie dust, you can fly just like me!"

Kairi still appeared hesitant, so Sora gently glided his way towards her. He hovered just off the edge of the walkway beneath one of Big Ben's faces. Smiling at her like she was a silly goose, Sora extended his hand towards her. "Don't worry. I'm right here with you. If you don't feel like you can do it right now, then that's fine, but I believe you can." Kairi took his hand in hers, then the other as he held it out to her. "You just have to think happy thoughts, Kairi, but it's okay for now. This was a lot to suddenly put on you." Grinning mischievously as the only hint that he was about to do something, Sora yanked Kairi off the ledge. She shrieked, but that only lasted for a second as Sora scooped her up into his arms in a princess carry and shot straight up.

Laughing as Kairi clung on to him, the redhead swearing while cringing after looking down, Sora opened his mouth to comfort her again. The cool air stung his eyes a little, but it was refreshing, and he tried to have that come through in his voice. After all, there was no way he would let her fall, since the apparently terrified girl in his arms was the happy thought that let him fly in the first place.

"_Let me be your wings. Let me be your only love. Let me take you far beyond the stars."_

Kairi's eyes snapped open and she glanced up at Sora. Now he was _singing_ to her. She didn't know if this was worse or not than directly poking fun at her. However, it _was_ making her calmer, if only because Sora was giving her something else to concentrate on.

"_Let me be your wings. Let me lift you high above. Everything we're dreaming of will soon be ours!"_

Miraculously, Kairi felt her fears vanishing as she listened to Sora's singing voice. He was no Barry Manilow, but he was good enough, especially since right now he was _flying_ and carrying her in a princess bridal carry. Deep down, having him carry her like this in those arms that had grown so strong was a dream of hers, and it was coming true right now!

"_Anything that you desire, anything at all. Everyday I'll take you higher, and I'll never let you fall!"_

Kairi yelped again as Sora made another sudden movement. He did **not** let go of her, not entirely. Sora swapped his hold on her from a princess carry to just grabbing her hands tightly within his own, throwing her upwards a little bit so that she wouldn't experience any falling motion. Kairi was about to give that stupid, singing, amazing moron a piece of her mind when she noticed something.

Sora wasn't holding on to her apart from just holding her hands, but she was not falling. In fact, she couldn't even feel the effects of gravity. Kairi hastily looked down. She was above the clouds, but they were not coming any closer. Kairi was floating, no, she was _flying!_

A huge smile nearly broke her face in two as she looked back towards Sora, her lazy bum grinning at her in pride. She had hardly noticed that as soon as she began thinking about him after he started singing that Sora's movements were simply guiding her own. Kairi had started flying the moment Sora began singing.

Laughing at how absurd her fears now seemed, Kairi zoomed around in the sky, doing flips, rolls, loops, and even standing upright and moonwalking around. Sora was right, this was an absolutely amazing feeling and she had totally been overthinking things.

The hero in question made her blush in silly embarrassment when he pressed his lips to her cheek and said with supreme smug confidence, "Told you you'd love it."


	8. Dreams

There he was, standing there, waiting for her. Dressed in a white suit with some red and yellow accents. The pants were shorts, fitting for being on the beach. He pulled it off well, his famously spiky hair surprisingly not clashing with it much at all. His face faltered for a moment when he caught sight of her looking at him, stunned, before he mastered his expression and turned it into a loving smile. Hopelessly infatuated.

Riku was standing smugly to the side, but the faces of almost everyone else were indistinct, and they refused to come into focus as Kairi neared them. Her eyes were only for Sora, looking at her with so much love and affection on this very special day. "You're beautiful," he whispered as she reached him.

He was right, and she felt it. Every bride should feel beautiful on her wedding day. The long train from her short pure white wrapped skirt with a flower belt flowed out behind her, longer still than the metre long gossamer veil fluttering behind her in the gentle breeze.

"So are you," she whispered back with a smile, hands tightening on the bouquet she was carrying.

"Dearly beloved," began King Mickey after her father sat down, the monarch being the one to officiate the ceremony, "we are gathered here today…" The whole thing was a blur of pink and rose petals as Mickey spoke. Kairi didn't even notice the saying of the vows or exchanging of rings, just lost in her own daze of gazing at Sora. "...I hearby pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss."

She lunged at Sora, all dignity and grace gone. He was hers, _hers_, now and forevermore. Arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, her lips smothering his in an intense kiss of territorial passion. This was not the sweet, tender, innocent kiss seen on screen in movie weddings. She was fierce and forward, claiming Sora as her own like a tigress, and her mate was just as forward. His tongue wrestled with her own in a bid to establish the dominant partner in this new form of their relationship, his fingers dug into her body from wherever they were, marking her skin just as she marked his back. Kairi couldn't even feel the fabric of his jacket or shirt anymore, like it was just skin-to-skin contact.

The kiss continued, as if they had no need for air, and their hands roamed all over one another. The crowd was hooting, hollering, cheering, and clapping. They were egging them on. Wanting to go deeper, _hotter_, wanting to see just how passionate their love for one another really was; wanting them to prove it was as hot and explosive as a Peléan eruption. They wanted, and Kairi wanted them, to see the two newlyweds _breed_.

"Goddammit Kairi!"

Whiplash. That was closest thing Kairi could liken the feeling to as the dream abruptly ended and she was yanked back into consciousness. She was lying on a very comfortable chair in a pleasantly decorated room, with Naminé across from her. The blonde was holding her head in her hands, palms pressed into her eyeballs.

Groggy, Kairi sat up straight and rubbed her eyes. The dream she had just had was already almost gone from her mind. "Hey. We done?"

Naminé did not appear to be happy with her as she groaned in frustration. "This is the fourth time, Kairi! I know I agreed to help plan your dream wedding by you actually dreaming, but if you can't keep your R-rated wet dreams in check then I'm not going to be able to help you."

Blushing, Kairi rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, I went there again, didn't I?" She glanced down at the engagement ring on her finger, a warm sensation bubbling up in the pit of her stomach.

"Jeez, you're thirsty," Naminé chided. "Maybe we should do this another day, when you're _not_ ready to jump Sora at the altar in front of everyone."

Kairi giggled and smiled through the redness on her cheeks. Maybe trying to actually dream up her dream wedding wasn't such a good idea, but the solid feeling of the ring on her finger most definitely was not a dream. If Naminé had anything to say about it, the wedding certainly wouldn't follow the dreams Kairi had been having to the letter, but it would certainly be just like a dream.

All that extra stuff Naminé cut out could come _after_ the ceremony...


	9. AU Day - Conan AU

_This was supposed to be for yesterday, July 8, but things kinda ran away from me and I couldn't get it out until today. Anyway, enjoy!_

Sora always felt different from the rest of his tribe. It wasn't exactly hard to imagine why. Out of all the people of his tribe, he was the only one who was not a human. He wasn't even humanish, in fact. Where the tallest human man in the tribe stood at around six and a half feet tall, Sora was even taller than that. Close to eight feet in height, held up by four powerful feline legs, covered in sandy fur and gripping the soil with firm paws with lion claws, Sora had a much more bestial appearance than his fellow members in the tribe. He had heard tales growing up about those like him, having the upper bodies of men and the lower bodies of quadrupeds. Centaurs were the most famous, those horsemen galloping across the great plains to the west.

Wemic, that was the name of the species he was, or so he was told. The upper body of a man, a bit hairier than normal, and the lower body of a lion. Even without training much, his body developed plenty of thick, corded muscle beneath his skin and fur. Growing up, he had mastered weapons, becoming the guardian of his people. Sora was proud to be the head warrior of the tribe, but it was also the obvious choice. No one else had the strength, speed, or stamina that he did. No one else in the tribe could defend them from the dangers of these lands with both spear and claw simultaneously.

Despite the pride at being the tribe's defender and strongest warrior, Sora always felt a sort of disconnect with his family. He had been born of the tribe, but had been found abandoned as a young cub, just a small, frail, thing. Even as the tribe raised him as their own, the differences between him and the rest of the kids were omnipresent in the back of his mind, and theirs. Even with their reassurances, and knowing that he was welcomed and loved here, there was this anxious restlessness in his heart that told him that he didn't belong here with the family that raised him; that his destiny was somewhere else.

But he couldn't go search out that destiny. His tribe needed him, relied on him. His presence allowed them to hunt game that was bigger and meatier than what the hunters could handle on their own; the bellies of his people were fuller because of him. Nobody in the tribe starved or went without pelts to wear or use for trade thanks to him.

All that changed the day _she_ arrived.

They found her collapsed in the wastes, hand gripping a redwood staff with a platinum fox head inset with eyes of sapphire. Hair as bright red as the apples they traded for from the farmers in the grasslands, and with a face as beautiful as a blooming desert flower. Eyes like the cool pools of oases, and (though Sora blushed when he thought about them) hands and feet that looked so small and soft. Her skin was pale, paler than theirs, as if she did not spend much time under the beating heat of the sun. Dressed only in a white skirt that wrapped around her waist and golden jewelry adorning her neck, ears, and wrists, they wondered who this person could be and what could she be doing so far out alone in these lands.

Sora offered to take her back to the tribe, being the strongest and swiftest, after all, and the others agreed. They laid the woman across his back, her grip still tight upon her staff even in her unconscious state. Sora broke into a run, careful to move as quickly as he could without jostling her too much as she lay upon his back. He couldn't help but look back towards her and wonder. She was an outsider, like him. Would she be welcomed with his people? Would she stay with them, or would she leave? She didn't look like much of a fighter at all. Perhaps a priestess from another tribe? If so, she didn't look like she was from any tribe he knew. All their allied and enemy tribes were full of tanned humans with coarse hair in shades of black or dark brown. None of them had almost porcelain girls with apple-red hair and rare desert flower beauty. She didn't even resemble the folk of the towns the tribe sometimes traded with for goods they could not produce on their own out here in the wastes and savannah.

Water and food was given to her when she woke, and Sora stayed near to her the entire time she was asleep and while she was quenching her thirst. He measured her drinking, ensuring that she did not imbibe too much water at once. Concern for her wellbeing and curiosity over her origins vied with one another for dominance in his mind as he watched over her while she ate and drank.

Eventually, she spoke. "You are not the same as the members of your tribe."

Sora nodded. "You're right. I was found and raised by them, but I am the only wemic among them. Where are you from? Forgive me, but you do not look like you are from any of the tribes in these lands."

She placed some of the gruel cooked in the milk of the yaks that they raised to her mouth with the wooden spoon provided. She lightly blew on it, soft-looking lips pursing as the stream of cooler air exited. "You are right as well. I am from a land far away from here, on a journey that I must see through to the end, or else calamity will transpire."

Intrigued, Sora repeated, "Calamity?"

The woman smiled. She had been smiling since the first spoonful she had taken in. Evidently she liked the taste of the offered gruel. "My name is Kairi," she said. "I am a priestess of the Vulpes."

"Ah, that explains it." Sora and Kairi both turned to look at the village elder, who had stayed in the hut with them. Elder Yen Sid stroked his long beard with his eyes closed. "The Vulpes. That is a name I have not heard in a long time."

"You know them, Elder Yen Sid?" Sora asked.

Eyes opened, looking up at Sora's intrigued face. "Yes, Sora I do. The Vulpes are a female-only people, living in permanent homes within the jungles of the Garden, and along the Great Invi River delta. It is an honour to have one of their priestesses visit us, and a very unusual occurrence." He turned his attention back to Kairi. "Your people tend not to venture far from your homes. This calamity of which you speak must be grave indeed."

Kairi nodded. "Yes. We normally do not leave our lands except to trade, but our high priestess, Master Ava, sent me out into the world. She said she had been sent a vision by our goddess Marian of impending danger to the lands being wrought by the followers of the two-headed snake god. She said that one with mastery of the Light would be able to foil their plans and preserve the land, and so I was chosen to complete this task."

"The two-headed snake god's followers, you say?" Sora asked, placing a hand to his chin.

"Yes! Do you know where they are?" Kairi asked. "If you do, please tell me. I have been on my own for weeks now, wandering in the dark. I have no idea where I am or where I am supposed to be going."

Sora nodded. "I do know where they are, some of them, at least, but they are far from here, and… you probably will not make it there without some help."

Her warm smile turned a little arrogant with a quirk from the corner of her lips. "And why do you say that? I am the foremost practitioner of divine miracles amongst the Vulpes. Even better than Master Ava."

Sora turned her grin back on her. "We found you dying of heat stroke, hunger, and thirst in the middle of the wastelands, in almost the opposite direction of those you seek to oppose. The shortest route to them is back through those same wastes, and you'll probably die for real if you go out there on your own again. Even if you do make it through, barely, you will be beset by slavers who will take one look at you and put you in chains."

Kairi winced, Sora having made a very valid point, before her smile returned. "Well, then I suppose it is a good thing that I will have you with me to protect me, right Elder?"

"That's right." Yen Sid was nodding his head sagely. "It is quite fortunate that he will be going with you."

"What? Wait, hold on," Sora spoke up. "Yen Sid, I'm needed here. I'm the guardian of the tribe."

"We survived before you were born and we will continue to survive after you leave," Yen Sid replied. He was speaking kindly, even though he was stating simple truths that stung for Sora to hear. "Sora, young one. In your heart you know that you have never truly belonged here. It is not your destiny to languish in this place, chained to it by a sense of duty simply because you are bigger and stronger than anyone else in the tribe. Your place is by the side of this young woman, aiding her in her journey. If nothing else, it is _because_ you are larger, stronger, and swifter than any other warrior amongst us that the duty of protecting her should fall upon you. No one else can fulfill this role better than you."

"And I believe your back will be quite comfortable," Kairi added, pressing her hand against his fur. "We should be able to make great time across the wastes if I ride upon you."

"Wait, that's—"

"Excellent idea, Kairi," Yen Sid declared, speaking over Sora's protest. "A fine head you have on your shoulders. You'll make an excellent companion for Sora."

"I was just thinking the same," Kairi replied. "He hasn't been able to take his eyes off me since I awoke, though I don't know if that's simply due to the fashion of my people's dress or because he's enraptured by my beauty."

"It very well could be both. Wemic or not, he is a young man after all."

"Indeed."

Both the priestess and elder were laughing quietly as they teased Sora like he wasn't even there. Sora growled in frustration and covered his blushing face with one large hand. "Would you two cut it out? I can't go, I'm being serious!"

"As are we," Yen Sid countered. "Sora, as Elder of the tribe, I will use my authority and influence to force this duty upon you if I must. You know as well as I the evil of the followers of the two-headed snake god. If the Vulpes have sensed a great darkness rising from them, then every possible step must be taken to prevent it. It is likely providence that brought this priestess here to us, here to _you_. We all know you are the best of all of us. You are the _only_ man for the job. To send anyone lesser would be shameful. And if we were to send another, and that person were to fail in protecting her, I know that you would tear yourself to pieces with both guilt and grief. You would doubt yourself to the end of your days, wasting away while asking yourself the question "why didn't I go with her instead". You must understand this."

Sora was silent. The elder's words struck a chord. He looked upon Kairi again. Yen Sid was right. If they were to send somebody else with her, even if they were the most capable warrior in the tribe beside himself, and she were to die, he would blame himself for not having gone instead. It appeared that Kairi sensed his resigned acceptance that he would be accompanying her on this quest and she turned back to Yen Sid. "Elder, if I may. The vision given to Master Ava by Marian showed that the child of Light who could foil their plan would be aided by one who possessed an enchanted blade. You wouldn't happen to have one?"

Sora's eyes bulged from their sockets. "You can't mean—! Not that! I'm not worthy!"

Humming in his throat, Yen Sid smiled and stroked his beard. "Oh, but you are. Our treasure is useless if not used, Sora, and it is better to put it to use to save the lands from ruin than to sit in a chest, wrapped in cloth, and never shine in the light of the sun. You will leave here with the Keyblade in hand. Use it well, so that the world does not succumb to darkness. You may take your usual spear and shield as well, and I will see to it that we also provide you with bow and a quiver of arrows. Teach Kairi how to use them, in case she cannot."

The tone in Yen Sid's voice brooked no argument. This was decided. He would be leaving, taking the treasure of the tribe with him and guarding the priestess of the Vulpes on her journey; a woman so beautiful that the other young men of the tribe wept tears of jealousy and enviously cursed Sora on his good fortune of getting to travel with her, to the disapproval of the tribe's women and Kairi's endless amusement. She even tormented him by sidling up to the side of Sora's torso and placing her arm around his back. The priestess even kissed the side of his chest, making Sora's heart pound and face turn redder than her hair while his friends hurled poison at him that would all be forgotten in a day.

That night they feasted. The Elder and Chief presented Sora with the treasured Keyblade, a greatsword that only the strongest of the tribe had wielded before in both hands, but Sora could easily manage with a single one of his massive paws. In the morning, just after dawn broke, he and Kairi quietly set off, the Amazonian woman of the Vulpes sitting astride his back on a leather seat in front of a harness full of provisions.

"I was right," Kairi said as Sora briskly jogged through the savannah towards the wastes, his claws digging into the grass and soil, "this is quite comfortable."

Sora sighed, but was glad that she could not see his face at the moment. He didn't need her to know how pleased he was at her words. "Don't worry, Kairi. I'll keep you safe."

"And I'll keep you safe," she turned his words back on him. "I already feel like you're the type of person to charge in recklessly, so don't be afraid. I have no doubts that you'll protect me, so allow me to protect you when you need it."

Nodding his head after hearing her words, Sora grunted slightly as Kairi lightly kicked him in the side. "Now show me how fast you can really run. Let's go! Also, I've always wondered, can wemics roar like real lions?"

Grinning, Sora quickly kicked his four legs into a sprint, explosively accelerating across the plains. He took in a deep breath, and answered Kairi's question by letting out a tremendous roar that not even a true lion could match. The priestess laughed and pressed herself against his back as the unlikely pair sped off across the grasslands, their journey just begun.


End file.
